Shopping plugin founded by Phoebe Gates, daughter of Bill Gates, touted as "AI Shopping Miracle" Used fake clicks to earn commissions

It is difficult not to roll one's eyes at the latest chapter in the Gates family saga.

Phoebe Gates, the 23-year-old daughter of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, co-founded Phia, an AI-powered shopping browser extension and app launched in 2025. Marketed as a “personal shopping assistant” that finds the best deals on fashion, compares new and secondhand prices, and promotes sustainability, it quickly racked up celebrity investors, $43.5 million in funding, and over 1.5 million users.

Sounds innovative? Think again. A Bloomberg investigation, backed by testing from independent researcher Ben Edelman and Capital One Shopping, revealed Phia's extension engaged in "cookie stuffing" or attribution fraud. It allegedly opened background tabs, injected its own affiliate tracking codes, and stole commissions on sales it didn't drive—overriding legitimate referrals from other publishers.

This violates industry "stand-down" policies meant to protect genuine traffic. Phia blamed a "bug" and claimed it was fixed, but critics note the "auto_drop" feature was server-controlled and targeted iOS users.

This isn't just sloppy code—it's symptomatic of Big Tech entitlement. The Gates name opens doors: Stanford connections, celebrity backers like Khloé Kardashian and Sydney Sweeney, and venture capital from Kleiner Perkins and Khosla Ventures.

Meanwhile, everyday entrepreneurs and publishers lose revenue to these tactics. Big Tech companies like Microsoft (with its own checkered privacy and monopoly history), Apple, and Meta have long prioritized power and data over fair play. Phia's earlier privacy issues—sending snapshots of users' web pages, including sensitive info—only heighten the skepticism.

Conservatives have warned for years: unaccountable tech elites, often aligned with "progressive" causes like Phoebe's "reproductive rights advocacy," push "disruptive" tools that centralize control and erode trust. Phia positions itself as an eco-friendly savior for Gen Z shopping, yet allegedly games the system for affiliate cash. True free enterprise rewards value creation, not inheritance-fueled shortcuts or deceptive attribution.

Americans deserve transparent markets, not another "fake clicks" app. Watching closely.

Sources / More reading

- Bloomberg: "Gates Heir’s Shopping App Took Credit for Sales It Didn’t Drive" https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-09/gates-heir-s-shopping-app-took-credit-for-sales-it-didn-t-drive

- Engadget: Phoebe Gates' AI Shopping App Phia Reportedly Claimed Unearned Affiliate Sales https://www.engadget.com/2212973/phoebe-gates-ai-shopping-app-phia-affiliate-sales-fake-clicks/

- Ben Edelman: Forced Clicks and Stand-Down Violations by Phia https://www.benedelman.org/phia-forced-clicks/

- The Verge: Bill Gates’ daughter Phoebe launched a shopping app https://www.theverge.com/news/656349/phoebe-gates-phia-shopping-app-extension